Annual migration offers a chance to observe large numbers of hawks

Thousands of migratory hawks, like these Swainson's hawks, will be migrating south through October.

Thousands of migratory hawks, like these Swainson's hawks, will be migrating south through October.

Photo: Kathy Adams Clark

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Thousands of purple martins come in to roost in oak trees on their annual migration to South America near Willowbrook Mall in north Houston. Photo Credit: Kathy Adams Clark Restricted use.

Thousands of purple martins come in to roost in oak trees on their annual migration to South America near Willowbrook Mall in north Houston. Photo Credit: Kathy Adams Clark Restricted use.

Photo: Kathy Adams Clark

Annual migration offers a chance to observe large numbers of hawks

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Thousands of hawks will be migrating through area skies through October.

The best identification guide is "The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors" by Richard Crossley, Jerry Liguori and Brian Sullivan (Princeton University Press, $29.95). And the best place to observe the migration is at the Smith Point Hawk Watch Tower in the Candy Abshier Wildlife Management Area on east Galveston Bay.

A: Most all of the hawks that breed in the central and eastern part of North America migrate south each fall to spend winters in Latin America. They fly by day using heat thermals generated by the sun hitting the ground. Individuals make their way south until they come upon the Gulf of Mexico at Smith Point. Because thermal activity is low over water, hawks do not readily fly over it. So, the hawks mill about trying to determine if they should fly over the bay or go around north of the bay.

Q: Why does the observatory operate the tower?

A: In the mid-1990s, (the observatory) struck up a partnership with Hawk Watch International to help design and carry out a hawk-census protocol still in use today. As hawks mill about the tower, we have a great opportunity to identify and count them. Though (we) hire an experienced hawk counter each fall, that individual is assisted by local volunteers.

Q: Why is it important to take a census of the hawks?

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Bird notes: migratory hawks

Where: The Gulf Coast Bird Observatory's tower is in the Candy Abshier Wildlife Management Area, 70 miles southeast of Houston. Take Interstate 10 east to Texas 61 at Hankamer, go south on Texas 61 for four miles to FM 562. Turn onto FM 562 and continue south then west for 22 miles to Smith Point. Follow signs to entrance, less than a mile.

New and best hawk identification guide: "The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors" by Richard Crossley, Jerry Liguori and Brian Sullivan (Princeton University Press, $29.95)

A: Counting raptors that come from all across Canada and the U.S. can tell us how well different species of raptors are doing from a population perspective, sort of like a health check. Hawks are difficult to count during breeding season because they are scattered all over the place. But at Smith Point, they concentrate in large numbers - quite a spectacle to see.

Q: What is the ecological importance of hawks?

A: They are at the top of the food chain, and they eat a lot of rats and mice that would otherwise overtake our food stocks and our agricultural fields. Also, many small raptors eat large numbers of pesky insects.

Q: What are the predominant species of hawks at the tower?

A: We regularly count 22 species of raptors. By far the most abundant hawks are the broad-winged hawks, followed by Mississippi kites.

Q: Why are hawks called raptors?

A: The term raptor comes from the Latin word "raptare," defined as "to seize and carry off." This "carry-off' action is possible because of the unique morphology of talons that all raptors have.

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